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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25336093">let my spirit carry me</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nokomis/pseuds/Nokomis'>Nokomis</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCeased (DC Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Feels, Batman Needs a Robin, Damian Wayne is Batman, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hugs, References to Canonical Character Death, Spoilers for DCeased, Spoilers for DCeased: Hope at World's End #5, Stephanie Brown is Robin, Time Travel, Zombie Apocalypse, and you have to write self-indulgent hugs, sometimes an idea won't leave you alone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:22:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,251</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25336093</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nokomis/pseuds/Nokomis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The alert goes off -- <i>temporal anomaly</i> -- and a portal opens in the Cave. Batman and Robin emerge, only it’s immediately apparent that it’s not Bruce wearing the cowl.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>425</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>let my spirit carry me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I couldn’t get this out of my head, SO. this is set both pre-DCeased/normal timeline (for Bruce, Dick and Tim) and post-DCeased: Hope at World’s End #5 (Damian and Steph)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s a totally normal evening in the Cave. Bruce is at the computer doing some detective work. Dick and Tim are sparring but mostly gossiping about their various teammates, and then an alert goes off.  <i>Temporal anomaly.</i></p><p>Dick’s all casual, says “Haven’t had one of <i>those</i> in a while.” </p><p>Tim’s curious, because time travel is always interesting. Often frustrating, always headache-inducing, but definitely more interesting than their previous conversation.</p><p>There’s a shimmer, and a portal is appearing. Bruce stands up, puts on his cowl, and Tim and Dick join him, flanking him on either side.  Then two figures emerge, and the colors are familiar: black and grey and the bat ears; red and yellow and green; but it’s clearly not Bruce, not either of them.</p><p>Batman is tiny, and Tim has absolutely no doubt who he is -- Damian, near enough to the same size as he is now that Tim has a terrible, terrible feeling about the near future. Robin is a head taller and blonde and it’s <i>Steph</i> smiling at them, but it’s-- it’s the same smile he’s only seen when she’s pretending like she’s not heartbroken.</p><p>Bruce is stock-still, and Tim can do the math, can figure out why Damian might be wearing the suit. Knows Bruce would already have come to the conclusion.  He shoots a glance at Dick, unsure what to say.</p><p>It doesn’t matter, because Steph beats them to it. “Go on, hug him,” she says, shoving Batman’s shoulder-- Damian’s shoulder. “I’ll explain.”</p><p>Then Damian’s running towards them, flinging his arms around Bruce. His shoulders are shaking, and Tim realizes he’s <i>crying</i>. Damian’s saying things to Bruce, quiet and quick and private, full of emotions that Tim kind of assumed the kid didn’t even have. He’s so caught up in that that Steph’s words feel like they’re coming from a different world. He supposes that really, they are. “So here’s the thing. The world ended.”</p><p>Dick says, “Again?” like it’s time for a joke, and Steph’s smile cracks, just a bit.</p><p>“We’re gone, aren’t we?” Tim says, because Steph looks like she’s staring at a room full of ghosts.</p><p>“You went quick,” she says, like that’s any reassurance. “Most of humanity did. Earth’s done for. They’re building arcs-- apparently the best idea we could come up with was to abandon the planet altogether and hope the virus doesn’t follow us to a new one.”</p><p>Damian pulls slowly away from Bruce, and then flings himself at Dick. He doesn’t say as much, because Dick is the one telling him how much he loves him, how proud of him he is. Holding him tight, stroking his back, being as physically <i>there</i> as possible. Bruce looks shell-shocked.</p><p>“I’m guessing that you think we stand a better chance of stopping it before it happens,” Tim says, trying to focus on Steph. It’s strange, seeing her as Robin, trying to picture this strange new partnership of Batman and Robin, but… Tim is surprised that he doesn’t feel jealous. Instead he can understand, can picture the terrible confluence of events that would lead to this partnership, and from the way Damian’s expressing emotions, flinging himself into sentiment over the mission -- it seems to be working.</p><p>“Hopefully, but honestly, it’s probably doomed,” Steph says with an easy shrug, as if she wasn’t talking about the apocalypse, the destruction of the planet, of abandoning hope. “If it works, yay, but the kid needed to see his dad one last time before we leave everything behind.”</p><p>Tim blinks, and as Steph explains what had happened and how best to avoid it, Damian hugs him, too, tight and fast.  Then he straightens up, wipes away the tears, and just like that he’s the Damian Tim knows.  </p><p>“We don’t have much longer,” he informs Steph in that inflection of voice that always makes Tim want to throw things at him, but in the cowl, what should have looked like a kid playing dress-up is suddenly-- not.</p><p>“I will keep this future from happening,” Bruce says in a voice that sounds harsh until Tim realizes that he’s speaking through a tightened throat, jaw tight, emotions barely held at bay.  He looks as though he already wants to hug Damian again. </p><p>Damian says, “I hope so. But even if you do, it will simply create an alternate timeline where things will be-- better.”</p><p>He spares a second to glance up, as if imagining his younger, more innocent self upstairs.  Steph wraps an arm around his shoulder, squeezes, and then faces Bruce directly for the first time. </p><p>“I’m taking care of him,” she says, and it’s a promise and an update all in one, a pledge to Bruce that his son has someone caring for him. Guiding him. The dynamic of this Batman and Robin is crystal clear to them all -- Damian’s resolve and training and pledge to uphold the legacy contrasted with Steph’s determination and emotional experience and refusal to back down in the face of certain doom.   “As long as I’m able, I’ll try.”</p><p>Their dynamic makes absolute sense and makes Tim’s head hurt all at the same time.  </p><p>“Thank you,” Bruce says, and then turns to Damian, like he’s going to say more, but Damian shakes his head.</p><p> “You already said everything that needed to be said.”</p><p>A future Bruce’s dying words to his son, and Damian doesn’t want them underwritten.  Tim wonders if he’d do the same, in that position.</p><p>“Thirty seconds,” Steph says, looking at a dial on her wrist-- analog,he notices, and Tim can think of a hundred things that they need to back up, that they should change now that this threat is apparent.  Neither Steph nor Damian has given a timeline, but Damian himself is a glaring warning sign.   It’s close, and they have to stop it.</p><p>Then Steph stuns him by throwing herself at him in a hug, at Bruce, then even Dick, who looks surprised. “Keep this from happening, okay?” she says, glancing back at Damian, who is staring at them like he’s memorizing every feature, every movement, every sound.  “Please. Don’t let our fate be yours.”</p><p>Then the shimmering portal reappears, and Steph is pulling Damian through. They can faintly hear her say, “We can’t just stay, Dames, we have too much work to do.”</p><p>“They need us--” Damian is saying, <i>Batman</i> is saying, as they return to their shattered planet.</p><p>It hadn’t occurred to Tim that that could even be an option for them, and the second the portal disappears, he feels the ache of their loss, the pressing and driving urge to save them.</p><p>“Write everything down,” Bruce says immediately, opening a file on the computer and beginning to type.”Both of you, so we can compare. I may have-- “ he stops to clear his throat. “I may have missed a few details.”</p><p>Tim can still practically feel the ghost of the hugs he’d received, the weight of Batman and Robin’s arms around him, and knows exactly what Bruce means.  </p><p>He pulls out a pad of paper, pens, and adds, “Paper copies, too. In case--”</p><p>Dick nods and says quietly, “It must happen soon. Damian wasn’t any bigger than he is now.”</p><p>Tim nods. “We can stop this.”</p><p>And tries not to think about Damian’s words, about knowing that they had managed to bring themselves back to simply -- warn them, to create a new timeline, knowing that they themselves were doomed to their own hellish one.</p><p>Had brought themselves back just to get one last goodbye.</p>
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